Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Giuseppe Arcimboldo, or Arcimboldi
1527-1593

Studies

Under his father, Biagio Arcimboldo, who did work for the office in the Milan Cathedral, in his youth

Career

Designed stained glass windows for the Cathedral of Milan, 1549
Worked with Giuseppe Meda on frescos at the Cathedral of Monza, 1556
Drew design for tapestry hanging in the Como Cathedral, 1558
Court portraitist for Ferdinand I of the Habsburg Court of Vienna, 1562
Court portraitist for Maximilian II and Rudolf II of the Court of Prague, after 1562
Court decorator and costume designer for King Augustus of the Court of Saxony, after 1570

Giuseppe Arcimboldo was mostly well known for painting in the Italian mannerism style. He painted imaginative, allegorical and somewhat grotesque portraits. He achieved this by using flowers, plants, animals, and natural objects in a collage to form human portraits. This style was an inspiration to the future surrealists.